Tryggvi Julius OlesonClick to enlarge

Historian.

Born at Glenboro in 1912, son of Gudni Julius Oleson and Gudrun Kristin Thomson (c1877-1969), he was educated in Manitoba, completing an MA in Roman History at the University of Manitoba in 1936. He took further work for the Doctor’s degree at the University of Toronto under Professor Bertie Wilkinson and his dissertation was published in 1955 as The Witenagemot in the Reign of King Edward the Confessor.

Oleson undertook further studies at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in the University of Toronto. His career as a teacher started at the Jon Bjarnason Academy, Winnipeg. In 1950, he joined the staff of the history department at the University of Manitoba, and in 1957 was appointed as full professor. He was later made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.